On Friday the Flyers signed former UMASS/Lowell goaltender Carter Hutton to an amateur tryout. On Saturday night he made his pro debut with Adirondack Phantoms, losing the Norfolk Admirals 3-1.

From Wire Service:

“Hutton, 24, joins Adirondack after completing his senior season at the University of Massachusetts Lowell of Hockey East. The Thunder Bay, Ontario native had a stellar year for the River Hawks, leading Hockey East in goals-against average (2.04), save percentage (0.928) and shutouts (4), while posting a 13-12-2 record in 27 games played. Hutton completed his four-year career at UMass-Lowell as the school’s All-Time Leader in shutouts (10) and goals-against average (2.33) and is tied for the career lead in save percentage (0.913); he also set a single-season River Hawks save percentage record this year. In 85 career NCAA games for UMass-Lowell, Hutton had a 34-41-10 and played in 5,004 minutes.”

Hutton had quite a successful College career. Scouts say he has the talent, with the right coaching, to potential become an interesting prospect. With the Flyers recent goaltending woes, it’s clear they have little to no depth at the goaltending position. Perhaps this is the first step toward a new point of view at that position for the Fly Guys.

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Written by Mike Santa Barbara
Sports writer covering mostly Philadelphia sports for over 10 years. Work has been featured on RealGM.com, GCobb.com and Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia (CSNPhilly.com.)

I feel like they’ve been down the UFA road before. Vanbiesbrouck, Burke, Hackett, Biron, guys like that haven’t worked out. And guys like Turco and Nabokov are already in their mid 30′s. Signing I guy like that in my mind would just be repeating the same mistakes.

I’m not sure Halak would be available, Price however is an interesting thought. If the price (no pun intended) isn’t to high for Price I’d consider it. He’s only 22 and was thrown into the Habs net heralded as the next Patrick Roy. No one can live up to those kinds of expectations. Having a fresh start could really help him.

I know the Flyers were in on Vokoun but balked at the price, Jeff Carter. If the price goes down, they’d be foolish not to consider it.

I think picking up a guy like Price would be the best way to go. The Flyers only have a few prospects at the goaltending position, including Adam Morrison drafted last season. It’d be nice to see them develop, for once.

If Nashville would be willing to part with Chet Pickard (probably still 1 or 2 years away from a full time role), would Philly be willing to part with Carter or Richards?

Pickard is the #1 ranked goalie prospect. He probably needs the 2010/2011 season in the AHL and then 1 years as a back up in the NHL to mature before he could take over the full time job. But he could be a 10 – 15 year goalie.

Not sure if the trade would matchup, but figured if Philly was looking to free up some cap space, it might be tempting. Not sure Nashville would want to give up on such a highly talented prospect though.

It certainly could be something they look into. They’ve balked at trading Carter before, but for a number 1goalie prospect, as fans it’s a no brainer. For one reason or another the Flyers have never put much stock in getting a solid goalie, they’ve been content getting run of the mill guys. On the other hand, Richards isn’t going anywhere, he’s really played well since the break, showing some maturity at the captain position. I got to think Chris Pronger has helped him along with that.

Working on a story now about the Flyers trying to get Tim Thomas at the end of the year. So they’d have to clear off some cap space just to make that happen. Could be a very interesting off-season in Philly.